This blog is dedicated to all The Little People in New Albany. Always remember The Freedom to Speak no matter what the situation. We are not going to give these Freedoms away. No one shall take these Rights from Us. The moment we begin to see the personal agendas in City Government, We should speak out. We now have a voice. We can make a difference on the way our City Government operates.
My philosophy is Common Sense and seeing things as they are, and doing things as they should be done.

One of the big differences that we've noticed between those who get what they want and those who don't comes down to one simple behavior - whether they're willing to ask for it.

It also boils down to this one basic point property taxpayers - if we don't demand accountability in local government, we don't get Property Tax Reform!

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Friday Rally--Noon at the State House

Citizens from all over the state are going on Friday to let their legislators know they have had enough of the cronyism and politics in the state house. We are coming to tell the legislators that we want our interests put first.

We want citizens throughout the state to know that Freedom Of Speech will be there leading a caravan to our State House. We support open, accountable government that uses our money wisely.

Not tax dollars for raises and Mayor England's new Lexus IS Coupe!

We want property tax legislation to be kept separate from other legislation.

Join us at noon on Friday ~ February 1, 2008 and look for the giant banner that says: "Politicians, do you want our houses?" Bring signs and posters. Let them know you are voting them out in November.

Monday, January 28, 2008

As we sat among 150 residents at the "Taxing Time" event held inside the Indianapolis Statehouse chamber last Wednesday night, we tried to be a neutral observer.

Just to double check our reality that we was not in hell instead of Indiana. Yep, it was real. Despite the outside freezing temperatures, the inside was simmering with irate property owners of homes, businesses, and farms; many who told horror stories of their past and present plight.A veteran, Kent Morhan, sitting in front of us spoke of his fixed income and fear of loosing his home. To our left, David Hendricks from Hamilton County spoke of eviction from his seized home by a prosecutor over his failure to pay steep property taxes.

In fact, from the floor to the balcony, the panel of 4 lawmakers drew harsh criticism from citizens who had jeers for legislators and cheers for repeal. The crowd with frequent boos and outbursts wasn't buying the same status quo remarks heard for months.

For citizens already drowning, it was little comfort to be told our leaders were trying to design a life jacket. Residents shouting of repeal and stop spending periodically echoed, leaving no doubt that property owners are fed up with being taxed out of their homes and want action; not words!As we emerged from the Chambers of Disbelief, disgusted business, farm, and homeowners, some like us who traveled miles for the event, were still boiling from lack of answers to valid questions, and their plight remains unsolved.

Who can blame them?

The lawmakers on the panel represented the cast of characters who have presided over an abusive system, and it will take more than tweaking to fix it. Few knew that only the night before, the Senate Rules Committee had killed the repeal bill.It is now up to "We The People" of Indiana to demand change!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

The City of New Albany is a prime example of why the state "CAN NOT" control local spending. We the "taxpayers" of New Albany appreciate Governor Daniels plan to control local spending in order to hold down our property taxes. But, it will "not work" in New Albany!For example:1. The mayor and his new administration have already pushed through $250,000 increase in city salaries and benefits.2. We understand that the England Administration wants to build a new $6 million dollar parking garage downtown.3. The State Street Parking Garage still owes EDIT Fund about $3.5million dollars to pay off EDIT Funds used to make garage bond payments.4. The City Council approved and added another code enforcement officer position in 2008. For over a year we have been paying a code enforcement officer well over $30,000 a year plus purchased another truck, and our City still has many trashy areas.5. City of New Albany used $5.3 million dollars of sewer utility fund money to pay our city bills. This money "has never been paid back" to our sewer utility fund.6. City of New Albany contracted out our garbage pick up in the city. Our New Albany Street Dept. has to go out to pick up all waste that the new company DOES NOT pick up due to their contract.Source: Items 1-6 verified through City Public records& local newspaper articles

Governor Daniels, we feel at Freedom Of Speech, that you have the best intentions, however, your plan to control spending "WOULD NOT" control local spending in our City of New Albany!

*The Planned Sewer Projects of Basin 35 Phase II and Phase III is dependent on various construction contractors contributing $599,890 towards the cost of these projects.Freedom of Speech would like to say: Get ready taxpayers...England's getting ready to raise our Sewer Bills!

Monday, January 21, 2008

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "The ultimate measure of a man or woman is not where he or she stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he or she stands at times of challenge and controversy."

Saturday, January 19, 2008

SB 17 passed out of the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee by an 11-0 vote this week. Most of Senate Bill 17 provisions impose taxpayer friendly limits on the operation of local Redevelopment Commission.

Many TIF district abatement's, bonding, and eminent domain decisions are made solely in New Albany by unelected Redevelopment Commissioners. Some TIF districts collect more revenue than needed to make bond payments, and there is now little restriction on how a Redevelopment Commissions can spend this surplus revenue.

Redevelopment Commissions and TIF districts always help developers while infrequently improving the life of New Albany working families. The creation of TIF districts often result in urban, suburban, or retail sprawl and other tax and utility burdens. The jobs created are usually low-pay and low-benefit. In most cases TIF districts are improperly placed in areas where developers should pay their own way.

Developers make the profit, why should New Albany taxpayers foot the bill?

State Senate Bill 17, authored by State Senator Luke Kenley, includes sixteen provisions that limit the operation of Redevelopment Commissions. The most meaningful restriction is that proposed TIF bonds would be subject to PETITION andREMONSTRANCE.

Freedom of Speech knows that petition and remonstrance for TIF bonds is an important protection for New Albany property taxpayers . New Albany's local government is"dominated by campaign contributions" made by developers and their lawyer surrogates. Existing TIF law strongly favors developers.

We have been assured this is going to change on July 1, 2008.

TIF districts "are part of the problem and not the solution" for New Albany property taxpayers!

Petition and remonstrance checks the power of developers and their elected cronies to unfairly use TIF districts for developer profit at the expense of New Albany property taxpayers!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

For us here at Freedom of Speech democracy is a question of human dignity. The right to freely express opinion and the right to be allowed to criticize and form opinions.

What the public does is not to just express it's opinions, but to align itself for or against a proposal.

Has Mayor England made it clear that he just doesn't care about the same priorities as many of the citizens of New Albany.

Giving RAISES does not solve our city problems...

When our Mayor stated: the salaries are important because they will enable him to "get moving" with his agenda, which includes an effort to attract more business and apartments to downtown and improve economic development in the city.

Source: Courier JournalWhy do you have to give these big salaries to some of the same employees who have been in these positions before? What did these employees do in the past to attract more business? Is it true that Carl Malysz asked the City Council to give Tax Abatement's for VACANT buildings downtown?Taxpayers, let's line up at the court house and get our tax abatement, so, we won't have to pay property taxes!

We know all about your agenda England...

When will you, Mayor England, announce the construction of a new apartment complex near the Hampton Inn?

We taxpayers thought that in a new position, you need to prove yourself before you get a giant raise!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Gov. Daniels stated: We are now called to act once again, together, on a great thing that is wanted to be done: to bring lasting fairness and affordability to the taxation of property in our state. The tenets of that framework are well known to each member, and a need no lengthy elaboration here. I ask you to take four - there's that number again- major steps on behalf of taxpayers.

First, immediate relief to every homeowner

Second, permanent protection against the return of unaffordable taxes, through a permanent, constitutional cap of one percent of a home value.Third, reform our hopelessly unfair assessment system, with its unexplained inaccuracies and its unequal treatment of like properties.And fourth, genuine limits on total local spending and borrowing, with none of the loopholes and exceptions that have permitted such spending to balloon in recent years. I hope you will join me in giving citizens what they have in most states, a final say over major capital projects through a straightforward referendum.

"I say, trust the people, give them the facts, and let them VOTE."

But we all know that this session has one paramount assignment, one act for which it will be remembered. Property tax reduction in all its dimensions will be hard work, time-consuming work. We must resolve to stay at it until success is achieved. Please don't make spring break reservations without a refundable ticket, because we're all staying as long as it takes!

Freedom of Speech would like to say the problem the General Assembly needs to solve is the legacy of failure where (1) we suffer permanent tax increases for temporary property tax relief and (2) property tax caps disappear. The foundation for genuine property tax relief is a constitutional amendment for a 1% cap on our property taxes that would let us know the maximum property tax we will have to pay on our homes. The 1% cap would provide reassurance that property taxes will be less likely to become an unaffordable burden that could force us out of our homes.

Even those who favor property tax eliminates property tax for individual income tax payers - need to face political reality and support a constitutional amendment for a 1% homeowner property tax cap as a necessary first step for sweeping property tax reform. Is there a better solution out there?Never has it been so easy to separate those who are part of the solution from those who are part of the problem. A legislator who supports a constitutional amendment for a 1% homeowner property tax cap is part of the solution, otherwise the legislator is part of the problem.Below is an up-to-date listing of those legislators who pledge to be:

Deputy Mayor/Director of Community Development.................$3,269.25Carl Malysz Yearly Income - $85,000.50____________________Douglas B. England, MayorCity of New AlbanySource: Public RecordsFreedom Of Speech would like to say: City employees salaries must be approved by September 30 for the upcoming year.IC 36-4-7-3 states: City Employees Compensation(b) Subject to the approval of the city legislative body, the city executive shall fix the compensation of each appointive officer, and other employees of the city. The legislative body may reduce but, may not increase any compensation fixed by the executive.A-07-43 Was approved on September 20, 2007 to approve city employees salaries for the year 2008.How can the City Council change or amend the salaries for the year 2008 that were approved by Sept. 30, 2007 which complies to IC 36-4-7-3?Even Mrs. Garry stated December 27, 2007: She was told by Mr. Pride from State Board of Accounts that they can do this by 2007 but not in 2008.Source: Public RecordsFreedom of Speech would like to ask: How many more of these position deals is England going to make for his political buddies? Did you read the Courier - Journal article that stated that England gave former Mayor Garner a temporary position with a car while Garner is job hunting? The article stated that this 30 day position would pay Garner about $6,000.00. Our math tells us that about $6,000 x 12 months = about $72,000 per year. If you are in need of a job, just go on down to the "Speak Easy" our new Mayor's office. We, the people, We, the voters, Have been lied to.

call :502-523-5726ask new Mayor Deputy Doug why he liedto us about "not giving" James Garner a job!

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

The check is in the mail, well sort of!Your property rebate check will be in the mail by the end of January. The Department of Local Government has certified more than $300 million in tax rebate checks.Don't get too excited though and don't spend it all in one place. And to make matters worse, no one can figure out exactly how much the rebates will be. At best DLGF Officials say you should take your 2007 tax bill, and add five to 10 percent to your homestead credit. That should give you a starting point to work with.Source: Teresa Plaiss, Auditor---President Bush signed a bill intended to give public greater access to information about what local government is doing. The new law signed January 1, 2008 toughens the Freedom of Information Act, requiring that local government and agencies respond to requests within 20 days and creating a system for the public to tract the status of their requests.Source: Heather Willis Neal - Indiana Public Access Counselor---As 2008 opens, January 1 marks the start of a new IRS mileage deduction for business use of your personal vehicle...always a popular subject with our readers. It's up a piddling 2 cents, from 48.5 cents a mile to 50.5 cents in 2008, despite the huge jump in gas prices.Source: IRS---Saving the best news for last: Gahan returns as City Council President.

Source: Teresa Plaiss, AuditorFreedom of Speech would like to say: Tax abatements reduce the amount that should go into our general fund that supports the city. If they don't pay all of their taxes, then we the taxpayers have to make up the difference out of our pockets.

If the County Council only gave 1 tax abatement then why did the City of New Albany give 84 worth $32,913,590 in 2007.

Local developers will argue and point to a long list of projects that would not have happened in New Albany without local tax increment financing or tax abatements. But we all know tax abatements and TIF are the bread, butter of local developers and development.

But Indiana's property tax crisis is prompting a fresh look at tax abatements and TIF, which critics say siphon away tax dollars from general revenues. We were assured by several Indiana General Assembly members to expected them to consider legislation reforming TIF and tax abatement practices in its upcoming 2008 session.

Friday, January 04, 2008

Last night an alliance of property tax protesters assembled with candles on the steps of the Statehouse to let it be known that SRJ 0008 will not die in the Senate Rules Committee on January 8th without dire political consequence paid by the legislators who killed it.

Consensus of this broad Alliance is for the total repeal of this broken property tax system and include the desire for all legislators to have the opportunity to register their vote instead of this bill suffering a committee killing. The people are demanding a vote from their legislators in open daylight.

Tax assessments are not accurate. They are prone to manipulation so that some people avoid them and others pay higher levels. It is virtually impossible for local government to make a fair assessment because of the expense. The typical process by which people use appraisers to determine market value is for two parties to each engage an appraiser and then divide the difference between the appraisal.

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New Albany's Tea Party ~ Update:The Tea Party Property Tax Protest scheduled for January 12, 2008 in downtown New Albany has been rescheduled to a later date due to the weather.

Freedom of Speech will inform the local taxpayers of the new date for the "New Albany Tea Party" to protest high property taxes.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Property tax protesters will rally with candles at the State House on Thursday January 3rd to bring illumination to the plot of fervent anti-repeal Senator David Long (R) to kill SJR 0008 in the Senate Rules Committee without a hearing by the public and their elected representatives.Citizens are aware that this is a political ploy used against the taxpayer in attempt to take property tax repeal out of the discussion for the 2008 legislative session thus making it impossible for legislators to vote for property tax repeal according to the demands of Indiana's citizens.Citizen tax protesters understand that property tax is collateral used without consent of the taxpayer to guarantee many municipal bonds for municipal construction projects. This runaway government spending, in turn, is causing many homeowners to face the real potential of losing their homes and a lifetime of security.Protesters from 92 counties will assemble on the northside of the State House with signs, patriotic costumes, candles, flashlights, and other illumination devices to demand that SJR 0008 is heard on the legislative floor by the elected state representatives of The People who expect property tax to be a permanently abolished in the State of Indiana.Source: David Bond & Max KatzFreedom of Speech would like to say if citizens lose representation and the opportunity to have an open debate on the property tax issue, it's logistically a two year setback for true reform and economic progress. Members of the legislature who deny Hoosiers an open debate or referendum on the elimination of property tax, should be voted out of office. If members of the legislature are secure in their knowledge and beliefs, they'll have no trouble exposing them to the light of open debate where they can exercise the courage of their convictions. Taxpayers of New Albany it's time to once again, email and call the people who are supposed to represent us, and insist on open debate of the property tax issue, on the floor of both houses!Unlike our city, taxpayers pockets are only so deep.Contact Information:Senator Connie Sipes1-800-382-9467email: S46@in.govRepresentative William C. Cochran1-800-382-9842Freedom of Speech has organized a large group of New Albany taxpayers to make the trip to Indy on Thursday January 3, 2008. We will be there to voice the concerns of New Albany taxpayers.Our concerns are increase property tax bills and out of control localspending in New Albany.

We also plan to check with state officials to verify that the recent salary increases are in line with Indiana State Law.